M: Me
When was the last time you did something for you?
I for one am all for efficiency. Literally as I was thinking about this post, I was boiling eggs. Rather than wait around 'aimlessly' for the eggs to boil, I used the time to wipe down my son’s high chair and unload the dishwasher. Efficient.
Here’s a wild suggestion…
What if I’d have used those 8 waiting minutes to sit down and read a few pages of my book? Or to just sit for a minute, watch a quick youtube video or a couple of minutes of my favoutite Neflix show, or something?
‘WASTE OF TIME!’
I hear your cries already. I also hear them because they’re largely the same as the ones which crop up in my mind when I suggest to myself that I do anything remotely ‘chilled’. Chilled is not a word most people would use to describe me. Capable, competent, ambitious - those are words I hear more often. I’m sure you can relate. I wonder if, like me, you can sometimes wear them as a badge of honour? As though us being ‘on’ all of the time deserves some kind of recongtition.
Just to be clear, I really don’t want you to think this is a call for us to back away from the laptop, ignore the laundry and presume that dinner will cook itself. I understand that we all have stuff which we both need and want to do. Of course we do.
But we’re not robots.
If we were only ever meant to ‘go’, we wouldn’t even have a concept of rest. The truth, however, looks pretty different. All of the books and videos we tune into when grappling for that ever elusive, healthy ‘work life balance’ (which I don’t agree with, by the way, but more on that another time), tell us that sleep is vital. Not just any sleep though, no! Around 8 hours a night, apparently. Although I’m not quite hitting 8 hours at the moment, I know for certain that after a good night’s sleep, I wake up feeling better than I did the day before.
If this is the case for a decent night’s sleep, it stands to reason that pockets of rest and recreation amidst the busyness of our day to day would be beneficial, doesn’t it?
What do you do for rest?
There’s a question for you. I’d imagine it’s not one you can answer super fast, unless you’re well versed in all things self-care. I don’t mean, ‘how do you do something semi productive whilst also doing something you enjoy at the same time?’ Because if that were a study project, let me tell you that I’d be leaving with top marks. I’m the QUEEN of painting my nails whilst watching a business training or listening to a podcast about how to add X into my website template.
The thing is, I really enjoy doing stuff like that and so again, don’t hear what I’m not saying. This isn’t a rebuke against time recycling. Who doesn’t love a bit of multi-tasking, after all?
But we’re human beings, not human doings.
If you’d be like me with the whole nail scenario I just outlined above, imagine what it would feel like to paint your nails whilst listening to your favourite album and lighting a candle… just you, your thoughts and a bit of ambience. What sort of feelings does that drum up for you? For me, I again hear that ‘waste of time’ chant in my head, as though a time when I’m sitting down for 30 minutes should be spent doing something far more constructive than bad karaoke and pastel coloured polish. (I mean, I’d obviously be singing along - you would too, right?)
If you caught last week’s Nurture Note, you’ll know I spoke all about intentions and how I believe that if they’re rooted in where we need to be present as opposed to where we need to be productive. If, actually, you’re pressed for time and catching up on that business training whilst you paint your nails, cook the dinner, or do the school run is what needs to be done today then no problem. But have you got 10 minutes somewhere which you can give to something where it’s only purpose is rest or recreation?
I didn’t want to lead with this, because driven and ambitious people like us will see this like a formula for success as opposed to a tool, simply for rest - but often, our very best work stems from a place of pause.
Creativity isn’t birthed from stress and the lack of ability to switch off. You can force ideas through by being ‘on’ all of the time, sure, but leaving margin for me-moments is where the magic really happens. That lightbulb, which switches on whilst you’re taking a 10 minute walk outside for some fresh air, that ‘ah ha’ you get whilst you’re listening to your favourite song and looking out of the window - all of it happens because you’ve given your brain permission to pause.
A global pandemic can certainly put us in a mode tailored to survival as opposed to thriving, but we don’t have to allow for this season to be marked solely by stress and lack of opportunity for solace. And so with that, some prompts for you to take to your journal:
1, If all you have today is 5 minutes for something ‘non-productive’, what are you going to do with those minutes?
2. Think about how having that time makes you feel once it’s done. Make some notes on it if it’s helpful. How can you cultivate a habit of taking moments like this every day, however much time you have?
As with all of the topics in our TIME framework, there’s a lot to say about ‘me-moments’ and so stay tuned for our official launch by keeping up with these weekly Monday Nurture Notes and by following us over on Instagram @officialtimeandpace.
If you’ve enjoyed today’s message, please spread the love. It MASSIVELY helps as we prepare to launch to the world. Just take a screenshot of your favourite part and add it to your IG stories tagging @officialtimeandpace.
Keep going. Keep growing.
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